


Grasping at Straws

by Settiai



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/F, Mass Effect 1, One Shot, Spectre Requisitions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-25 20:49:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13842774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Settiai/pseuds/Settiai
Summary: Ashley kept getting the feeling that she was missing something.





	Grasping at Straws

**Author's Note:**

  * For [cakeisatruth](https://archiveofourown.org/users/cakeisatruth/gifts).



Ashley couldn't help but follow Shepard with her eyes as she turned and walked towards her quarters, the slight swing of her hips somewhat at odds with her normally strict military bearings. Not that Ashley minded in the least bit, even if she'd never admit it out loud.

"You do realize she's going to notice you staring at her one of these days," Kaidan said lightly as he dropped down in the empty chair beside Ashley in the mess hall.

Ashley pulled her gaze away from the sight of Shepard disappearing into her quarters and shot him a dirty look. There was a small part of her that was tempted to tell him just where he could shove his comment, rank be damned. Considering said teasing involved her utterly improper crush on their _commanding officer_ , though, she couldn't help but think that maybe this was one of those times where it was better to suck it up and stay quiet.

Then again, her eyes weren't the only ones that had a tendency to wander. And God only knew, she could give as good as she got.

"I could say the same for you," Ashley shot back calmly before taking a sip of her coffee. "At least I only stare at her back."

Kaidan's face grew a shade darker as he flushed, but he managed to keep his expression mostly schooled as he took a sip of his own drink. "It's not like anything could ever come out of it with me," he said, his mouth twisting into a wry smile that didn't quite meet his eyes. "We both know I'm not her type."

Ashley snorted. "That makes two of us," she said, trying her best to ignore the slight pang in her chest as she did so. "I'm pretty sure she prefers women who are a bit bluer."

His eyebrows rose at that, and an expression that she wasn't quite certain how to interpret flashed across his face. Then he shook his head and took another sip of coffee without saying anything.

Ashley was instantly suspicious.

"What?" Ashley asked, narrowing her eyes at him. "Spit it out, LT."

Kaidan shook his head, his wry smile shifting into something much more amused. Like he knew something that she didn't.

Ashley stared at him for a moment longer, trying to decide if it was worth it to try to convince him to tell her what in the hell that look had meant. Still, if there was one thing she'd learned over the last few months, it was that Kaidan Alenko could be a stubborn SOB when he put his mind to it. The odds were that all she'd do is give her coffee time to grow cold.

"I'm going to figure it out eventually," she said, still watching him closely. When his expression didn't change, she shook her head and turned her attention back towards her coffee.

Beside her, Kaidan snorted and muttered something under his breath that she couldn't quite hear. Ashley pointedly ignored him.

*

Ashley dove for cover as another blast of enemy fire flew over her head, missing her by inches. "Where the fuck did these assholes come from?" she muttered under her breath.

"Shoot now, ask questions later," Tali said from her own hiding spot a few feet away from Ashley.

Then she rose up long enough to aim her shotgun at one of the mercenaries that had caught them by surprise, hitting him with a perfect headshot before she ducked back down. Ashley's eyebrows rose a little at that.

"Nice shot," she said. She rose up and let out a burst of fire herself, not managing anything quite as impressive as Tali's headshot but still doing a fair bit of damage.

They took turns for the next minute or so, trying to stay under cover as much as possible, before Ashley glanced over at Tali again. "Any idea where Shepard or Vakarian are?"

Tali gestured towards a small structure not too far from them. "At least one of them is there," she said, taking another shot before continuing. "I've seen some mercenaries fall from gunfire coming from that direction."

"Good to know," Ashley said. Then she pulled out a grenade.

Even with her face covered by her suit, Ashley could almost see Tali's eyes going wide. "Keelah!" she swore, ducking down a little lower to the ground. "Are you crazy?"

Ashley grinned, just a little, before tossing the grenade and getting down herself. If she positioned herself to help keep Tali from getting hit by any unintentional shrapnel from the explosion, well, it wasn't like there was anyone else around to notice.

There were a few screams as the grenade did its job that were quickly swallowed up in a roar of flames. Then there was silence. 

After a few seconds, Ashley carefully poked her head up over their cover. She didn't see any movement, but she'd learned a long time ago that it was better to be safe than sorry.

"Remind me to stay on your good side," Tali said dryly.

Ashley shot her a grin before pushing herself to her feet, her gaze still surveying the area around them. She was ready to dive back down if she needed to.

She caught sight of a flicker of movement out of the corner of her eye, and her gun was already up and aimed before she realized it was Shepard stepping out from behind the small structure that Tali had pointed out earlier. Vakarian was just behind her, his eyes darting warily around in search of anyone they might have missed.

Shepard was shaking her head as she made her way over towards them, but she looked more amused than upset. "That's one way to end a fight," she said, her gaze darting between Ashley and Tali for a second before finally settling on her fellow human. "I'm going to assume this was your idea, Ash?"

Ashley gaze her a casual shrug. "What can I say?" she asked. "It was getting a bit monotonous."

Shepard snorted. "I'm definitely glad you're on our side."

A burst of warmth flooded through Ashley's chest, and she pointedly shoved it down. There wasn't really a good time or place to have an inappropriate crush on your CO, but this was even farther from it than normal.

"That's what I'm here for," Ashley said. "To watch your back."

Shepard smirked at her, amusement playing across her face. "Oh, I've noticed," she said lightly. "You're very good at watching my back, from what I've seen."

The way Shepard emphasized the word "back" was pretty damn telling. It took a lot of effort to keep her face from turning bright red, but Ashley thought that she managed it.

Vakarian did a fairly good job of turning his snort of laughter into a cough, but Ashley still took a second to glare daggers at him as Shepard turned away and walked over to examine some of the bodies crumpled on the ground.

Ashley wasn't an expert at reading turian facial expressions by any means, but she had the impression that if Vakarian was a human he'd probably be wearing a shit-eating grin just then. As it was, he just gave her a nod and followed after Shepard.

"Don't worry," Tali said conspiratorially, leaning in a bit closer to Ashley so she could lower her voice. "She didn't say she minded."

That... was a fair point, actually. And Ashley was very much going to keep that in mind in the future. But still.

Ashley closed her eyes for just a second, biting back a groan. "I hate you all."

*

Wrex was grinning. Ashley hadn't realized just how terrifying a sight that was until it was aimed at her.

"What?" she asked warily, her hand unconsciously sliding down for a weapon that she wasn't wearing before she realized what she was doing.

If anything, his grin grew wider. Then, very pointedly, he sniffed the air.

Ashley narrowed her eyes and resisted the urge to shift uncomfortably in her chair. She'd spent the last few hours in Shepard's quarters going over the complete FUBAR that had been Feros, and Shepard had doused both of them in some fruity-smelling spray the moment they'd walked in the door. _I don't care how long we showered, I can still smell that plant goop on us_ , had been Shepard's exact words as she'd reached for it. _Now stand still._

It was a perfectly innocent reason for her to smell like Shepard, which had to be what Wrex was implying. But considering she could still see a few traces of the slime from the Thorian on Wrex's skin, despite it being a good twelve hours since they'd gotten back to the _Normandy_ , she doubted he'd care much about that particular excuse.

Ashley sighed. "If you're going to say something, just say it."

Wrex took a swig of whatever liquid was in the giant mug he had in front of him. She'd learned months ago she was probably better off not knowing exactly what it was.

"I didn't say anything," he said, sounding almost smug.

Ashley glared at him. His grin grew even toothier.

Before she could say anything else, her attention was caught by movement heading their way. Ashley glanced over her shoulder, where T'Soni was heading that way with a tray of food.

T'Soni hesitated beside the table for a moment, her eyes darting between the two of them. "May I join you?"

Ashley glanced back at Wrex one more time before turning back towards T'Soni and shrugging. "Mi mesa es tu mesa," she said, gesturing towards it.

T'Soni blinked at that, tilting her head a little. Ashley couldn't help but wonder just how the translators had handled her slipping into Spanish, even for just a few words. Did it sound the same as it would have if she'd said it in English, or did they give some indicator that she was speaking a different language? She'd have to ask one of the aliens on board at some point.

"Thank you," T'Soni said quietly, putting her tray down so she could pull out a chair. As she sat down, her gaze drifted over towards Wrex. "Do I want to ask?" 

Ashley glanced over at him again. He was still grinning, and when he saw her attention focused on him he chuckled.

It was pretty damn disconcerting.

"I have no idea," Ashley said to T'Soni. Then she turned her focus back towards Wrex. "Want to share what's so funny?"

"Nope," he said. Then, without a word, he stood up and walked away from the table, heading towards the elevator.

Ashley and T'Soni stared at each other for a long moment.

"Do you have any idea what that was about?" Ashley asked slowly.

T'Soni shook her head. "Krogan can sometimes be—" She trailed off, as if she was struggling to find the right word.

"Fucking weird?" Ashley suggested.

T'Soni opened her mouth as if she was about to argue. Then she closed it and nodded. "Yes, actually, that's a fairly apt description."

"Oh, go fuck yourself, Wrex!"

Ashley jerked in surprise as Shepard's voice rang out, followed by booming laughter that could only come from a krogan, and she was relieved to see T'Soni do the same beside her. It made her feel a little better, at least.

A moment later, Shepard came stomping down the corridor in their direction, her face bright red. She looked more amused than angry, but you never knew with her sometimes.

T'Soni stared at her, wide-eyed. Ashley just raised her eyebrows.

Shepard glanced in their direction and let out a noise that almost sounded like a growl before quickly looking away from the both of them.

Ashley's eyebrows went a bit higher. "I know a guy who can get you a missile launcher, if you really want to shoot him."

Poor T'Soni made a strangled sound, as if she wasn't sure if they were joking. Which Ashley had been. Mostly.

Shepard reached up to run her fingers through her hair, still not looking at them. It was hanging loose for once, and judging by its dampness Ashley suspected that she'd probably showered yet again in an attempt to rid herself of any and all Thorian-related smells.

"Maybe next time," Shepard said reluctantly, shooting Ashley a weak grin as she finally glanced back in the direction of the table. "I don't want to deal with the paperwork right now."

Ashley raised her eyebrows. "Isn't that what Pressly's for?"

Shepard snorted. "The poor man might shoot _me_ if I tried to shove that off on him," she said, shaking her head. Then she sighed and glanced towards the door to her quarters. "Speaking of paperwork, duty calls."

Her shoulders dropped a bit as she turned and headed towards her quarters. Ashley couldn't help but notice that she looked tired than usual, her normal swagger a bit subdued. Shepard didn't even glance back as she disappeared inside, the door closing behind her.

"Oh!"

Ashley blinked and pulled her attention away from Shepard, glancing over at T'Soni. The asari was staring at her, her eyes wide and a look of surprised realization on her face. As soon as Ashley turned her gaze onto her, her face darkened a bit like she was blushing, and she quickly looked away.

"Did I miss something?" Ashley asked, trying not to let her utter confusion show.

T'Soni quickly shook her head. "Sorry!" she said. "I hadn't realized that the two of you were—" She stopped abruptly. "Well, it explains a few things. I'm sorry! I hadn't realized."

Ashley stared at her. "T'Soni," she said slowly, "what are you talking about?"

If anything, T'Soni looked even more embarrassed. "I should go," she said, quickly standing up and grabbing her half-finished tray of food.

Ashley was tempted to grab it in an attempt to hold T'Soni in place until she explained just what the fuck she was talking about, but she wasn't that cruel. The poor kid looked like she was about to start panicking, and the last thing she wanted was to have to explain _that_ to Dr. Chakwas.

Instead, she just sat there as T'Soni disappeared into the med-bay.

"What the hell?" Ashley asked the mostly empty room. Dubyansky and Grieco were standing over by the sleeper pods, and they glanced over in her direction. One look at her was enough to send both of them hurrying elsewhere.

She let her head hit the table with a louder-than-intended thunk. This was getting ridiculous.

*

A thousand and one little clues all connected in Ashley's mind the first time that Shepard kissed her.

"Oh," Ashley said, her eyes going wide as Shepard pulled away.

Shepard's eyebrows suddenly attempted to reach her hairline. "Oh?" she repeated, a shade of worry in her eyes that Ashley knew she wasn't imagining. "Well crap, that's not the reaction I was hoping for."

Ashley wasn't about to explain to her CO – who had just _kissed her_ , holy shit had that just happened? – that she'd come to the sudden realization that the entire crew had apparently known her utterly inappropriate crush wasn't entirely one-sided. So she did the only thing she could think of.

She kissed her back.

Shepard was grinning when they broke apart again, a hint of worry still in her eyes but not nearly as much as before. "That's better," she said, a bit breathlessly. "You had me worried for a second there. I thought I'd imagined all the times I caught you staring at my ass."

"Half the crew stares at your ass," Ashley pointed out. "I'm pretty sure I've caught _Wrex_ staring at your ass."

Shepard grimaced at that. "Well, that's one way to kill the mood."

Ashley let out a quiet laugh, leaning forward a bit to rest her head against Shepard's. One of her hands had ended up wrapped around Shepard, resting on her back, and she casually let it move a little lower down.

Shepard tilted her head so that she could look Ashley in the eyes. "We should probably talk."

"I can think of some other things that would be much more fun than talking," Ashley said, pressing a kiss against Shepard's cheek.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me over on Tumblr. (http://settiai.tumblr.com/)


End file.
